I bought this Jeep knowing about this problem, obviously. Now I am mulling over how to eradicate the rust down in the gutter. I'm going to sand out the rust adjacent to it on the roof and that's a no brainer. Sand it, tape it off, primer it and paint it. No problem. Down in the narrow channel of the gutter is another thing...I have been thinking about Gorilla-gluing sandpaper to a slightly whittled down toothbrush handle and getting that down in there and getting that out.

Any ideas? Any actual fixes for this that are known, just unknown to me?

It's cosmetic but will eventually turn bad and I bought it this way knowing it was just one more thing I could actually do myself...and I sit staring at my Dremel and wondering if they make a sanding head that small?

 

Wire wheel brush on the end of a cordless drill...it will go much faster than sandpaper...

 

I just sanded off my light surface rust in the gutter then applied some wax.

 

Now, why didn't I think of that? That's why I asked the question! How in the hell did I not think of that?

 

Sometimes the simple things are often overlooked....happens to the best of us!

 

I guess I started to get the fear going that I had bitten off more than I could easily chew. I mean, I knew I could get it out the hard way, I was just thinking about an easier way. Wire wheel, damn. Hahahahaha!

 

Who'd a thunk it, right? Another option would be one of those 3M ScotchBrite-type pad wheels...might be a little less aggressive...

 

So, the basic idea with this pig, while I have you here and to make sure I am right, is just remove the rust in this manner, blow or vacuum it out, tape it off with the blue tape or Frog tape, etc., then hit it with primer on a sunny day, wait a couple hours and then hit it with white Krylon and she's done?

 

Pretty much it...only thing I would add is to use some wax and tar remover after sanding, like this:


Then continue on your steps. This stuff will remove any oils and such and help adhesion.

 

Use wax to help remove the rust?

 

I gotcha, the pic didn't show up until refresh.

Preference for tape?

 

Either one is good, frog tape seems to leave cleaner lines in my experience. Just remember, with ANY paint job, whether using a pro setup or rattle can, prep is key. the more time you put into it, the better it will look. Kinda depends how far you wanna take it. I prefer to get it "close enough" when it comes to paint on my rig, only cause I don't really care about it that much. As long as it looks decent, I'm happy. Gonna get scratched on the trails anyways, LOL

 

I just want it to look good. Trust me, I'm not **** on this, it's a Cherokee and that is what I love about it. I love this Little Big Pig Rig.

I just don't want it to waste away from neglect.

I am the second owner and it was a State Owned vehicle as the first owner.

The rust in the gutter was bad factory paint and I can almost guarantee you that while it was sitting before it was auctioned off, it sat with a bunch of wet leaves on it for a few weeks or months, and that was that.

To me, if you can see where I painted a rectangular area up there, well, that means I took care of the problem.

 

Rust bullet is good stuff for light rust, is it rusted through?

 

Nope, don't see where it is rusted through, just varying degrees of surface rust from light through moderate to heavy. Don't see any real structural damage.